I am 37 and my husband is 39. This is our 6th cruise,1st 4 were with Carnival and our last 2 were with RCL. Personally, we both like RCL the best...seems to be a lot better profile of people on RCL.
Trip from Dallas/Ft.Worth to San Juan was great. We got there 1 day early so we could be at the cruise terminal by 11:00a.m. the first day and were were able to board by 11:30a.m. My husband bought a bottle of Crown Royal and stuck it in between some clothes and it made it to our room on the cruise just fine. If anyone does that they sell individual bottle cokes in the liquor store on the boat so you can take them to your room. I would like to write some tips that I wish I knew before our first cruise and this is just my personal opinion on some issues. Balcony room is a must 1. really look at the age of the ship before booking, even if the ship is old and been renovated it still is an old ship and it tends to rock and creek more (way less amenities also).......it will make or break a cruise if you are on an old ship. Adventure is newer and it is awesome. 2. there is no alarm clock in the room, there is wake up call service but even though you are on vacation you still need to know what time it is so be sure and pack a small one. 3. there is only 2 electrical outlets so if you need more plugs you you need to bring a plug outlet extender 4. anyone booking the spa or specialty dining needs to book the minute you arrive on the ship. They book up completely by the first night. 5. Ice show is a must see. The ice show is free however; you must get a ticket to enter and they book up also very early. 6. please do not feel it is a must on buying all the excursions on the trip. We did that our first 2 cruises and learned hundreds of dollars later to plan things on your own. 7. A past guest wrote to buy a book called "Frommers Caribbean Ports of Call" and that is an AWESOME book to get for only $16.99. you can plan things on your own for alot cheaper and it tells you step by step 8. if anyone wants to bring Cuban cigars back be sure where you buy them that they give you a generic box and pull all the labels off and you will not have a problem taking them back thru customs to the U.S. (we did not do this but were told by people who buy them on every trip what to do) 9. I realize it is against the rules to "save a chair" at the pool however;everyone does it and they do nothing to stop it. If you do not save a chair on sea days by 9:30a.m. they are all taken by the pool. 10. cell phones also work at sea now if you want to bring yours.
Aruba- We rented a 4X4 jeep from aruba top car rental agency thru the internet website and were able to pick it up at the pier when we got off the ship for $80.00. We had a blast and all the street signs guide you in English as to what to see Lighthouse, natural bridge and natural pool. We also booked on line eating at 6:00p.m dinner on the beach at the www.flyingfishbone.com and it was well worth the $100.00(check out the website)AWESOME. It was also safe over the net to use your credit card Curacao- took a taxi from the pier to Hato Caves (must see) and took at taxi over to the beach at the Seaquariam ($15 p/p) chairs were included St.Martin- shopped all day, my opinion best shopping port better deals than in St.Thomas. I heard the Orient Beach is also the best beach on the trip to visit. St.Thomas- shopped and then took a private taxi to Sapphire Beach. We did spend alot of money on taxis this trip however;we did not do tours thru the cruise so we still saved money.